Catherine Taylor has joined the Heywood Fellowship team on secondment from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). A UK Diplomat for over 20 years, Catherine has served in Switzerland and Chile and in a range of roles in London. A linguist by background, she studied Russian and Spanish at the University of St Andrews followed by postgraduate studies in Interpreting and Translation at Heriot-Watt University. She has also studied or worked in Spain, Ukraine and Argentina.

Catherine’s diplomatic career to date has spanned economic development, counter-terrorism, consular affairs, climate and environmental policy, amongst other issues, and with a geographic focus on Latin America and the Post-Soviet space. Much of her work has been in the multilateral arena, engaging with the G7/G20, EU, NATO and OECD, amongst other institutions. Immediately prior to taking up the secondment, Catherine was leading the team responsible for the UK’s relationship with the OECD in Paris.